Sporting Kansas City was eliminated from MLS Cup contention after losing to Houston 2-1 aggreagate over the span of two games. They finished the year as US Open Cup Champions and a Kansas City team record of 63 points.

Sporting Kansas City (17-7-7)
Graham Zusi is locked in at the moment, and if not for Chris Wondolowski and his goal-scoring exploits, Zusi could walk away with league MVP. Zusi has five goals for the season, which tied his career high set last year, and his 14 assists are tied for the most in the league. Clearly, last year was no fluke for the rising U.S. men's national team candidate.

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Originally Posted by Cassel's Reckoning:

Matt once made a very nice play in Seattle where he spun away from a pass rusher and hit Bowe off his back foot for a first down.

Sporting Kansas City (17-7-7)
Graham Zusi is locked in at the moment, and if not for Chris Wondolowski and his goal-scoring exploits, Zusi could walk away with league MVP. Zusi has five goals for the season, which tied his career high set last year, and his 14 assists are tied for the most in the league. Clearly, last year was no fluke for the rising U.S. men's national team candidate.

BigChiefDave:"Anyone who thought we would only be in Iraq for a few years is either stoned or just stoopid."
"It is unknowable how long that conflict will last. It could last 6 days, 6 wks. I doubt 6 mths." Rummy 2/7/03

These kinds of pics so don't help your cause with hetero male America.

It's all good...

cause we got Kei, cause we got Kei, cause we got Kei.

__________________Meet the new boss same as the old boss.

BigChiefDave:"Anyone who thought we would only be in Iraq for a few years is either stoned or just stoopid."
"It is unknowable how long that conflict will last. It could last 6 days, 6 wks. I doubt 6 mths." Rummy 2/7/03

Seth plays his heart out and puts his body on the line every game for freakin peanuts. Do not diss on Seth.

__________________Meet the new boss same as the old boss.

BigChiefDave:"Anyone who thought we would only be in Iraq for a few years is either stoned or just stoopid."
"It is unknowable how long that conflict will last. It could last 6 days, 6 wks. I doubt 6 mths." Rummy 2/7/03

KANSAS CITY, Mo.  You can talk about Jimmy Nielsen's goalkeeping numbers all day long. He's not all that interested.

If Nielsen looks at the scoreboard after a match, and the number on Sporting Kansas City's side is bigger, he's good.

What means something to me is that we're winning games, Nielsen told MLSsoccer.com after Wednesday's training session. I'm happy when we win 2-1, and I'm happy when we win 1-0. I've said it before: It's never a goal for me to go on the field and have a clean sheet.

Maybe not, but Nielsen leads MLS with a club-record 14 shutouts this season. Add that to his 17 victories and 0.81 goals-against average, also league bests, and Nielsen is poised to be the first MLS 'keeper to earn the Triple Crown since Pat Onstad in 2005  and only the fourth to do it in the league's 17-year history.

We never used all those stats where I came from, he said. It's all still new to me. I don't think I have the same energy and commitment to look at the stats like players who grew up in the American system do.

Now, if you want to talk about a point of pride, Nielsen has one. And yes, it does involve numbers.

This season, the 35-year-old Nielsen has played every minute of Sporting's 31 league games so far. He also started four of five US Open Cup matches, on the way to Kansas City's first silverware since 2004.

And throughout his career  not only here but in his native Denmark  Nielsen has never missed a start due to injury. Illness, yes. Suspension, yes. But injury? Never.

The secret to that sort of durability is simple, Nielsen said: preparation and a little bit of luck.

You've got to be professional in everything you're doing, he said. It has a lot to do with your lifestyle. I've lived like a professional soccer player since I was 12 years old. I knew what I wanted and I knew what I was going into, so I missed a lot of parties. I missed a lot of weddings. I missed a lot of birthdays because of soccer. But again, I don't feel I missed it. I've had a great life as a soccer player and I've never regretted my choice.

And in choosing to come to Kansas City before the 2010 season, Nielsen has extended his career beyond his own expectations.

To be honest, when I came here my plan was to be here for one year, he said. I didn't know what to expect about this league. I didn't know what to expect about this club and the whole organization. But I've been here three seasons, and I love it. I love every day of it. The family's doing very well here, and that's very important for me. I easily see myself here three, four more seasons.

9:12PM EST October 2. 2012 - Two days before a game against the Chicago Fire, Sporting Kansas City defender Matt Besler was phone shopping at a local Apple store when three employees approached him to wish him good luck. Besler was shocked.

"Nobody used to recognize me unless it was at a soccer event and they were very big soccer fans," said Besler, a four-year Major League Soccer veteran.

Across the country in San Jose, Earthquakes forward Chris Wondolowski told a similar story. "People will come say hello," he said. "In years past that didn't happen."

As recently as 2010, Kansas City and San Jose were the cannon fodder of MLS. But both squads have witnessed a renaissance over the last two seasons, and this year the teams sit atop the divisional standings with three weeks remaining in the regular season.

Kansas City and San Jose could face each other in the league's championship game, which will be held Dec. 1 at the home stadium of the finalist with the best regular-season record.

For both clubs, winning has erased bitter memories of local anonymity and empty grandstands. It's also boosted ticket sales and TV ratings, and attracted scores of casual fans. Since 2010, Kansas City has nearly doubled its attendance and San Jose has seen a 40 percent jump.

But it's the way the clubs have won that has helped attract fans. Sporting Kansas City suffocates its opponents with an aggressive and physical style of soccer. The team has surrendered only 25 goals this season, the lowest in MLS. It also fields six players who grew up in the Kansas City region.

Conversely, San Jose has won with dramatic goals in the final minutes. The club has scored 12 game-tying or winning goals in the 82nd minute or later  a stat that has earned the club the nickname The Goonies, in reference to the classic 80's movie.

"We embrace that 'Goonies never say die' attitude," Wondolowski said. "It means there is buzz all around."For both clubs, success has been well timed. San Jose is financing a new 18,000-seat stadium, which could open as early as 2014, to replace its current home, the 10,500-seat Buck Shaw Stadium at Santa Clara University.

David Kaval, president of the Earthquakes, said the team's success and media attention helped him sell all 12 luxury suites and 576 club seats in the new stadium. Kaval said it's also helped him in sponsorship meetings with the local corporate community.

"It's like we're transitioning from the minor leagues to the major leagues," Kaval said. "People gravitate toward that."

In Kansas City, the team is two years removed from a drastic re-branding campaign that replaced the old "Wizards" name with the European "Sporting" title. The club also built a new $180 million stadium for the team, which formerly played in Arrowhead Stadium.

Robb Heineman, CEO and one of five club owners, said he anticipated a boost from the new stadium. But winning, he said, has helped advance the new team name beyond his projections.

"We knew people would hate [the name] at first," Heineman said "But if we thought if we gave it time, people would get it. They're getting it."

Heineman pointed at the club's merchandise sales as proof. In 2010, Wizards merchandise ranked last in the league in sales, ranked below two expansion teams that had yet to play a game, as well as the generic MLS branded gear. In 2012, Sporting Kansas City's merchandise ranks third in league sales.

Soccer marketers and league officials also said the turnarounds in Kansas City and San Jose represents a new success story for MLS. For the last three seasons, the league has trumpeted its successful expansion clubs in the Pacific Northwest, as well as the purchase of international stars Thierry Henry and Rafa Marquez.

San Jose and Kansas City have had MLS teams since the league's first season in 1996, although the original Earthquakes moved to Houston in 2006. The clubs have two of the smallest player budgets in the league. Neither club owns a "designated player"  big dollar stars whose salary does not count toward the salary cap.

According to Doug Quinn, CEO of FC Dallas and former head of marketing for the league, the teams are proof that marquee players, marketing campaigns and multi-million dollar stadiums can only take teams so far in MLS.

"Do you have to win [MLS] Cup every year to succeed? No," Quinn said. "But you need to be in the hunt."

__________________Meet the new boss same as the old boss.

BigChiefDave:"Anyone who thought we would only be in Iraq for a few years is either stoned or just stoopid."
"It is unknowable how long that conflict will last. It could last 6 days, 6 wks. I doubt 6 mths." Rummy 2/7/03